what tree to plant?

[*mrgrizz*]

want to plant a tree(native) in the front lawn. to provide shade.

what is a fast growing, non limb dropping reasonably litter free tree? 

[***super_nova***]

I like LilyPily, but they do drop leaves and also berries (have one 30 y.o. in the front yard) .  However, at least here in Melbourne they do grow fairly fast.  The trees that do grow really fast also usually do not live very long, and do drop branches.  I have given up on trying to have totally native garden years ago.  I like silver birches.  They give lovely shade in the summer and when they lose leaves in winter, let in the sun when I need it.  Even nicer shade is under my apricot tree; the tree is wide and dense but the shade is light but really cool; it is the most comfortable place to be on very hot days.  And the apricots ale lovely too, when I manage to save some from birds and possums.  But for most of my shade and I have several shade sails. 

[kopenhagen5]

Give a native nursery near you a call.

They will probably suggest a whole range of ideal trees.

[katymatey*]

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@lyne-flyn wrote:

If you have a large lawn a peppercorn tree would be great...they grow very quickly, are drought resistant, don't drop their limbs and also make very little mess.

We have  two that were only about 5ft tall when we moved here 4 years ago...they are now over 15ft tall.

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Not sure where you live but in Victoria I think they are a noxious weed. Multiply like weeds and can grow very large indeed. There are a couple of huge ones on vacant land next to my mother's home. Just before xmas a branch fell, missing my mother only because she had just walked away.

[lyne-flyn]

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@katymatey* wrote:

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@lyne-flyn wrote:

If you have a large lawn a peppercorn tree would be great...they grow very quickly, are drought resistant, don't drop their limbs and also make very little mess.

We have  two that were only about 5ft tall when we moved here 4 years ago...they are now over 15ft tall.

---

Not sure where you live but in Victoria I think they are a noxious weed. Multiply like weeds and can grow very large indeed. There are a couple of huge ones on vacant land next to my mother's home. Just before xmas a branch fell, missing my mother only because she had just walked away.

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Must depend where you live in Victoria...there are literally hundreds growing on the nature strips here.

I know they can grow very large as we had one in the backyard when I was a child and three of us could hold hands around its trunk. Really big ones will sometimes drop branches but that is usually because they are rotten.

[*mrgrizz*]

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@lloydslights wrote:

Hi Mr Grizz.

It appears that fast-growing trees, do tend to drop limbs more readily than slow growers.

A few questions :

How big is the front yard?

Shade required for a garden spot; or for shading the house?

Are you prepared to prune/shape (the tree I mean)?

Let's see how we go after the answers?

............

I agree with evil-akuma absolutely.

DEB

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front yard is fairly large will be planted about 4 metres from the house.

shade for the house.

the less work i need to do to it the better

 the council can't tell me what sort of tree to plant on my property?????

[polksaladallie]

My view is that 4 metres is way too close for anything that calls itself a tree.  Shrubs, yes, although some of them have invasive roots also.

Do not consider eucalyptus.

[katymatey*]

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@lyne-flyn wrote:

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@katymatey* wrote:

---

@lyne-flyn wrote:

If you have a large lawn a peppercorn tree would be great...they grow very quickly, are drought resistant, don't drop their limbs and also make very little mess.

We have  two that were only about 5ft tall when we moved here 4 years ago...they are now over 15ft tall.

---

Not sure where you live but in Victoria I think they are a noxious weed. Multiply like weeds and can grow very large indeed. There are a couple of huge ones on vacant land next to my mother's home. Just before xmas a branch fell, missing my mother only because she had just walked away.

---

Must depend where you live in Victoria...there are literally hundreds growing on the nature strips here.

I know they can grow very large as we had one in the backyard when I was a child and three of us could hold hands around its trunk. Really big ones will sometimes drop branches but that is usually because they are rotten.

---

I  think there are just too many of them around for councils to get rid of. The main thing is to continually pull out the suckers. (the peppercorns, not the councils, although that is sometimes  a good thing too)

[cherry*135]

Not a:

Gum tree

Palm tree

any tree that has berries.

What about those pull down window shutters (on outside of house) or awnings for house shade?

[***super_nova***]

I love pepercorn trees, but unless you are in very dry area, they do indeed grow very large and their roots are invasive.  The problem is that plants grow, fast or slow they grow.  When I first moved in here the block was just a wasteland.  So, I went plant shopping and if I liked it I definitely had a spot for it.  I wish the labels told the truth though; for instance I bought Escalonia with label saying bush "up to 1.5m x 1.5m  in 10 years" so I planted it in front of the bush that said will grow to 2.5 m.  Well the Escalonia was 3m in 2 years, and handsome tree in no time at all, and in totally wrong position designwise.  And another interesting plant was muehlenbeckia, described as a "groundcover to 30cm".  Well it is up on the 2.5m fence and growing upwards, actually it is up about 3.5m, and selfsupporting.  It looks great, I cannot see the house next door any more.  But I suspect my neighbours do not share my opinion of it.

[cherry*135]

I have a frangipani tree inside the fence in a small yard. It is a nice tree and pretty. It has almost doubled in size in the last two years since I have been here though - cuts out most of my sea view  (in the summer, looses its leaves in the winter) from the lounge. 

Who ever planted it in that position, made a mistake imo.